


in the deafening noise of the rain, all i hear is you

by budapest



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Lil angsty, Violet-centric, basically no apocalypse okay, clementine lost her fuckin dog and violet's a dumb bitch who's gonna go find her, i mean it's high school but they dont actually go to school cause it's summer, nothing you gotta call your dentist for though, they're broken up right now, uhh kind of fluffy at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 08:45:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19314676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/budapest/pseuds/budapest
Summary: Violet and Clementine broke up two weeks ago, and everyone's having a rough time.But then Clementine's dog goes missing, and Violet decides to help her out.Hijinks ensue.





	in the deafening noise of the rain, all i hear is you

Watching fireflies blink in and out of the darkness, Violet glanced down at her phone for the third time in five minutes. Tapping her fingers anxiously against her styrofoam cup, she quietly grunted with frustration. This waiting game was killing her.

Looking around, Violet took in her surroundings; she was sat at an ice cream shop off of Third Street, bathed in flickering fluorescent lighting and bleak, gray sunlight from beyond the hills. Her world felt dull and colorless.

“No, guys, _honestly_! I swear they did anal!” cried Willy through his mouthful of peanut butter and jelly ice cream. A collective groan sounded around the damp picnic bench, all except Louis, who was thoroughly engaged in Willy’s story. Marlon pushed his small cup away, gingerly setting his plastic spoon down on the table.

“Well, that does it for my appetite. Thanks, Willy.” said the blond boy sarcastically. Louis murmured in agreement. Willy, uncaring, continued on with his story. Noticing Violet’s resident scowl was replaced by a blank look, Louis scooted closer to her.

“What’s with you, Grumpy? Did the rest of the Seven Dwarves piss you off one too many times?” chuckled Louis, licking half-melted ice cream off of his thumb. Violet mumbled under her breath in response, but her words were lost on Louis. “I didn’t catch that, try again?” Once again, Violet let out a string of barely recognizable words, running her hand through her hair with one hand and twirling her spoon in the other.

“You’re gonna have to speak up if you want me to under-“

“I miss Clementine! Okay?” running over Louis’ words, Violet turned her whole body towards him. “We broke up like, two weeks ago, and this is the first time I haven’t spent at least an hour every day talking to her, and I keep-fuck. I keep waiting for her to text, or call, or fucking, I dunno, _email_ me for Chrissakes, and she should _be_ here right now but she’s not, and it’s stupid,” Violet all but shouted, throwing her spoon on the ground. “I miss her and it’s fucking stupid.” Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she breathed deeply through her nose, grounding herself. Opening her eyes again, she glared at Louis, then turned to her friends, looking contrite.

The rest of the table had turned towards Violet, watching her outburst, but now their eyes were downcast. Violet and Clementine’s breakup had been insanely difficult for the two of them, but also draining on their friends; how do you pick sides when two of your best friends aren’t even on speaking terms?

A deafening silence engulfed the four of them. 

“We understand Violet. Really. And you can talk to us about this stuff, I mean, we’re your friends,” Willy said softly, while Louis swiped at a notification on his phone. Marlon swatted his shoulder, then turned to Violet again.

“Yeah, what Willy said. We’re here for you.” Violet’s heart felt a bit more full; knowing her friends wanted nothing more than for her to be genuinely happy was…good. Affirming. It made the weight on her chest a little more bearable.

Then, Louis, uncharacteristically quiet, muttered something. 

“Oh, so when _I’m_ quiet it’s a sin, but when _you_ -“

“Rosie is missing. Clem’s dog. Y’know, the one who’s paw is all, like, fucky, so she has trouble getting around?” Louis looked at her pointedly.

Violet frowned, picking at the loose strings that dangled from the hem of her vest.

“That…sucks.” Deep breath, then: “how long has she been gone?” Violet refused to make eye contact with any of her friends.

“Since this morning,” the taller boy said, now scrolling through his phone. “Lee’s been at work all day though, and Clem had softball-“ 

“Softball practice, yeah, I know. It’s Thursday.” She knew Clementine’s schedule like the back of her hand. She felt a pang in her chest. “So nobody’s had the time to really look for her?”

“Nope,” Louis said flatly. His eyes flitted to Violet’s slumped form. “You’re free right now. You could…” He trailed off. 

Violet’s eyes widened. “No! No, no no-of _course_ not. That would be weird, and overstepping, and it’s not my place anymore, and did I mention _weird_ and-fuck.” Violet looked up at Marlon and Willy, silently pleading for them to back her up. 

“I dunno Vi…maybe it’d be a good way for you guys to get talking again? If you brought Rosie home?” Marlon looked at Violet hopefully. Willy nodded in agreement, nearly shaking his hat off in the process.

Sighing, Violet looked at Louis, then her half finished ice cream, then Marlon and Willy, then her ice cream again, and finally to her car.

“This is so fucking stupid. I hope you guys know that. And if that behemoth of a dog kills me, it’ll be your asses I haunt.” And with that, the denim clad girl stalked off to the dimly lit parking lot, hopped in her little green sedan, and drove off.

—

Violet hated rain. It was cold and wet, and when it wasn’t cold it was humid, and that made her feel sticky and gross and fucking awful. Not to mention, it was ass to drive in. And yet, here she was, hurtling down the back roads she knew so well, heading to her ex-girlfriend’s neighborhood so she could go find this goddamned dog. All while it poured down around her. Fantastic.

Her car, nearly as old as Violet herself, was, for lack of a better phrase, a piece of shit. The brakes worked most of the time, but when they didn’t work, they _really_ didn’t work. If Violet put the visor down, it would pop out of the ceiling. The headlights were dim and wouldn’t stop blowing out no matter how many times she replaced them. 

In conclusion, Violet’s car was a mean, green, rolling death machine. But it got her from point A to B, and the radio worked, so who was she to complain?

Violet quietly hummed along to whatever song was being pumped through her stereos, and peered through the sheets of rain being flung onto her windshield one after the other. Taking a slightly precarious turn, Violet pulled into Clementine’s neighborhood. She sighed, happier memories flooding her mind, but nevertheless continued on.

Lee Everett was nothing if not a man of good taste, and it showed in the neighborhood he’d moved his family to when they’d come to the small Georgian town. Sat at the edge of a heavily wooded area, Clementine’s was one of the many Victorian houses in this part of the state. A small creek gurgled next to it, and in the summer, the rush of the water, the bullfrogs, the cicadas, the creak and groan of the woods, they were all the soundtrack to Violet and Clementine’s relationship. 

Violet, looking longingly at the house, saw a light flicker on in one of the windows on the upmost floor, and her heart clenched. It was, unmistakably, Clementine’s window. Violet knew it well, having spent so many nights climbing through it to visit her then-girlfriend when it was past curfew. 

White knuckles gripped the steering wheel as Violet dragged her gaze away from the house, and drove slowly down the street, searching for any sign of a monstrously large dog. She would not let herself be bogged down with memories. She had one goal here: find the dog, bring it back to Clementine’s house, and leave before anyone really noticed her.

She let out a silent prayer to whomever might be listening to please, just let this one thing be easy. Just this once.

—

It was not easy.

Violet had probably driven every street in this godforsaken neighborhood five times, going slower and slower each time. She’d rolled down her windows on the second pass to see better, and by this point, both Violet and her seat were soaked.

“Well that’s gonna be fun to drive home in,” she said through chattering teeth.

It had been well over an hour and a half, and while she did really want to find this dog, she also recognized that it was probably getting a little late to be out. Violet’s grandmother was nothing if not worrisome. 

Rolling up her windows, she drove down Clementine’s street, fully intending to leave the neighborhood and head home. Cold, wet, and defeated, she was going to bury herself in warm blankets and pajamas, and eat her feelings with GoGurt. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ones always made her smile, and Violet felt like she deserved at least that.

Suddenly, a muscly brown shape ran in front of her car, and into the woods on her left.

“What the fuck?!” Violet shouted, slamming on her breaks. She hadn’t gotten a great look at the animal but it had looked like…

“Shit. Rosie!” Clamoring out of her car, she grabbed her keys and her phone, and ran into the woods next to Clementine’s house, calling after the dog.

Now, Violet prided herself on not being a part of any organized sport. She felt they were dumb and pointless. Unless you were good, in which case you got, like, money and stuff. But if you weren't somebody like Babe Ruth, what was the point of playing? 

Violet was also woefully out of shape, and after about five minutes of running through a wet, dark forest, she began to regret her decision to quit track in 10th grade.

“Probably should've stuck with that past the first year,” she thought, longing for the stitch in her side to go away.

Slowing down to catch her breath, Violet realized she was a little lost. In fact, she had no idea where the fuck she was. Panic filled her chest, but she pushed it aside, and she shakily began calling out for Clementine’s dog again.

“Rosie! Here girl! C’mere Rosie! Good girl! Let’s go home!” Violet repeated it like a mantra, swiveling her head to find something, anything that looked familiar.

Nothing.

“Fuck.” 

And then, suddenly, she felt something nudge her leg. 

“What the fu-oh Jesus Christ, Rosie. You nearly gave me a heart attack,” the blonde haired girl said, clutching her chest. Smiling, she looked down at the dog.

“Good girl,” Violet scratched behind Rosie’s ear, chuckling when the massive dog’s eyes closed and her tongue lolled out. “Alright then, let’s get you home.” Finally calm again, Violet picked out the narrow path she’d tread when she’d ran in, and began walking back. Rosie, an always loyal companion, happily followed her.

—

“Alright. This is fine. Absolutely fine. You got this. Just knock on the door, then when you hear someone coming, get the hell out of Dodge.” Violet paced at the edge of the woods, hyping herself up, all while Rosie sat and watched bemusedly. “Rosie will be home safe and sound, you’ll have done your Good Samaritan-whatever-the-fuck, and you can go ho-“

“Hello?” A voice rang out from the back porch. The hair on Violet’s arms stood straight up, her heart stopped, and her eyes widened. She clung to the side of a tree, willing her body to stay flush against the bark, and remain in the shadows.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” she whispered to herself. “Maybe if I just…don’t say anything, she’ll go aw-“

“I know someone’s out there! I’m gonna ask you once to step off this property,” Clementine might’ve had more to say, but in that moment, Violet stepped into the light, hands shaking and eyes watery.

“Hey, Clem.” She cringed at the way her voice cracked as she said the other girl’s name. Clementine’s face was blank and unreadable, as always. Violet had never been able to read the girl, as even when they were dating, she kept her emotions on lock, not letting them out unless she willed them to be. Violet steeled her nerves, and walked through the muddy grass to stand at the bottom of the porch stairs.

“Look, I know you don’t want to see me, I understand, really, and I’m sorry for coming by, but Louis told me that Rosie was missing, and I just thought, ‘I should go look for her!’ and I know that sounds stupid and it was so rude of me to insert myself, and I’m _really_ sorry, but I found Rosie, and I kinda had to go running through the dark and wet and scary forest to find her, but she’s back, so-“ Violet was cut off by the air being knocked out of her as Clementine threw herself into the blonde girl’s arms.

“I’m so sorry, Vi. I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry I yelled, and I’m sorry I said all that horrible shit, and I’m sorry I wasn’t a hundred percent honest with you, and I’m just-I’m so sorry.” Clementine’s voice shook with the tears she refused to let fall, but as Violet pulled back and looked up at her, the floodgates opened. Clementine was, for the first time in a long time, completely vulnerable for Violet to see.

Wordlessly, Violet pulled the other girl in for a hug, clutching her like her life depended on it.

“You’re all wet and gross,” Clementine said in between sobs.

Laughing, Violet stroked the back of Clementine’s head. “Yeah, I am. I’m fucking cold too.” She paused, taking a moment to look the taller girl in the eye. “I missed you too. For the record.”

Clementine stood there in front of her, eyes puffy, nose running, some saliva dripping out of the corner of her mouth; Violet thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. 

“I love you.” Clementine said, unsure and unsteady. Violet let out a sob of her own, and leaned in, pressing her lips against Clementine’s. She cradled the other girl’s face, thumbs stroking her cheeks as they pulled back, resting their foreheads together.

“I love you too.” And the rain, soft now, drip-drip-dropped down around them, all while the creek gurgled, and the bullfrogs croaked, and cicadas clicked. The world felt a little bit brighter now.

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys !! literally have not posted a fic in almost two years. wow. hope this is even kinda good. ALSO im still editing it like...after posting it, because im reading it and finding typos so SORRY ABOUT THOSE.
> 
> to be quite honest, i've struggled with finding time and motivation to write for characters that already existed, to shape stories that were already written, and to pursue concepts that were already written about time and time again. on top of that, i've been dealing with a lot of personal stress and mental health issues, and the day by day life of a highschool student with what was essentially a full time job. 
> 
> but now i graduated !! so i'm forcing myself to write a bit more, read a bit more, etc. 
> 
> anyway, hope you guys enjoyed. please leave a comment if you find something i could improve on, or if you just liked it :) kudos are also appreciated haha


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